Carlisle headquartered Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group says it is rising above the turbulent conditions on the high street after posting a £23.4 million profit after tax.

In its latest annual results, the group – which includes the popular Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Peacocks, and Jaeger chains – said revenues rose to £327.14m and net assets to £430.3m for the 27-week period to March 2, 2019.

Fast-fashion retail chain Peacocks emerged as the star performer, reporting a £17m profit after tax, while clothing and homeware retailer Edinburgh Woollen Mill reported a £12m profit after tax for the same period.

The turnaround of designer fashion brand Jaeger also gathered pace. Losses were reduced to £1.1m – a dramatic reduction in the £7.1m loss reported the year before EWM Group bought it out of administration in 2017.

A total of seven new standalone Jaeger stores opened during the period, with a further eight, including four concessions, in the past nine months. Austin Reed, Berwin & Berwin and Jacque Vert were all formally consolidated into the Jaeger business in March this year, which has a new headquarters in Victoria, London.

The growth in stores, along with other freehold property acquisitions, demonstrated the group’s commitment in brick-and-mortar, it said, while investment has also been ramped up in new dedicated e-commerce platforms for all of its brands.

The short 27-week period brings EWM Group’s accounts back in line with its standard year. The previous annual accounts stretched across a 78-week period spanning 2017 and 2018 to accommodate the subsidiary accounting periods that followed the acquisitions of Jaeger, Berwin & Berwin and Jacques Vert.

While difficult to make year-on-year comparisons, profit after tax for the 78-week period in 2018 was £62.8m.

EWM Group is owned by billionaire Cumbrian businessman, Philip Day, listed as the eighth richest person in the North West in the latest edition of the Sunday Times Rich List.

The strong performance, in light of the on-going difficulties in the retail sector, reflects Mr Day’s long-term approach to building up businesses, many of which he has bought out of administration, rather than a focus on short-term profits, said the group.

A spokesperson for EWM Group said: “In the face of a challenging retail environment, our relentless commitment to customers and their wants and needs has allowed us, again, to stand out from the crowd.

“As we continue to expand our store estate, our multi-fascia strategy has allowed us to appeal to a wide demographic of customers across a range of different prices points; whether that is good-quality yet affordable clothing from Peacocks or high-quality signature pieces from Jaeger.

"Our strong financial position, emphasis on recycling profits for long-term investment in the future, and highly effective logistical backbone continue to provide an important competitive advantage for the Group, allowing us to maintain and extend profit margins at the same time as continuing to pursue new opportunities for the Group as they emerge."

The group also reported a cash balance of £117.8m. And it continues to be bank debt free, with no external bank borrowings and undrawn committed bank facilities of £100 million, it added.

Meanwhile, Mr Day has made more than £8m available via a recovery plan to tackle the underperformance of the group’s pension scheme, with an aim of returning it to surplus as soon as possible.